'Battery cars better than fuel cell vehicles to cut emissions'

Electric battery cars are a better choice for reducing carbon dioxide emissions than vehicles that run on hydrogen fuel cells in terms of overall costs, according to a new study.

Cars with hydrogen infrastructure provide few additional energy benefits besides clean transportation, according to researchers from Stanford University in the US and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany.

They compared cars that run on batteries versus hydrogen fuel cells in a hypothetical future where the cost of electric vehicles is more affordable.

"We looked at how large-scale adoption of electric vehicles would affect total energy use in a community, for buildings as well as transportation," said lead author Markus Felgenhauer, from TUM.

"We found that investing in all-electric battery vehicles is a more economical choice for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, primarily due to their lower cost and significantly higher energy efficiency," said Felgenhauer.

Electric vehicles come in two flavours: plug-in cars with rechargeable batteries, and fuel cell vehicles that convert hydrogen gas into clean electricity.

Unlike gasoline-powered cars, battery and fuel cell vehicles emit zero carbon when driven. But deploying them at scale will require a costly new infrastructure for charging batteries or delivering hydrogen fuel.

The researchers focused on California, a leader in electric vehicle transportation. Statewide, battery electric cars are growing in popularity.

"In terms of overall costs, we found that battery electric vehicles are better than fuel cell vehicles for reducing emissions," Felgenhauer said.

The analysis showed that to be cost competitive, fuel cell vehicles would have to be priced much lower than battery vehicles, the researchers said.

However, fuel cell vehicles are likely to be significantly more expensive than battery vehicles for the foreseeable future.

"Another supposed benefit of hydrogen – storing surplus solar energy – did not pan out in our analysis either. We found that in 2035, only a small amount of solar hydrogen storage would be used for heating and lighting buildings," Felgenhauer added.
The study appears in the journal Energy.